Best known for his depictions of Parisian dancers and laundresses, Edgar Degas (French, 1834 - 1917) was enthralled with another aspect of modern life in the French capital. Degas's fascination inspired a visually compelling and profoundly modern body of work that documents the lives of what one fashion writer of the day called "the aristocracy of the workwomen of Paris." Despite the importance of millinery as a subject in Degas's oeuvre, there has been little discussion of its place in Impressionist iconography, until now. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco bring new light to the subject with this presentation of Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade.

This exhibition features more than 40 Impressionist paintings and pastels, including key works by Degas, as well as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, Mary Cassatt and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Approximately 40 spectacular examples of period hats — including nine from the Fine Arts Museums' collections — also will be displayed.

"This exhibition highlights several facets of our extensive holdings, which comprises not only exemplary paintings and drawings of French Impressionism but also exquisite hats of the same time," says Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums. "There have been numerous exhibitions on Degas, but this is the first to focus on his works inspired by the milliners of Paris and to present them alongside the works these artisans themselves were creating."

Highlights include paintings from the Musée d’Orsay, the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the St. Louis Museum of Art, which are displayed near hats from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These works present the social and historical context of the millinery trade, which captivated Degas and his peers.

"Our installation not only provides new insights on paintings by familiar artists such as Degas, Renoir, and Cassatt but it is also a remarkable opportunity to explore the intricate layers of social, economic, and gendered meaning behind the production, wearing and depictions of hats in 19th-century French art and culture," says Melissa Buron, associate curator of European painting for the Fine Arts Museums. "One of the project's main themes is the changing social roles of women as both creators and consumers of these fashionable accessories."

The exhibition is the first to examine the height of the millinery trade in Paris, from around 1875 to 1914, as reflected in the art of the Impressionists and French milliners. From the start of the Third Republic until the outbreak of World War I, there were around 1,000 milliners working in what was then considered the fashion capital of the world. Degas and the Impressionists' representations of millinery became a central theme within the broader avant-garde ambition to showcase the diversity of Parisian modern life.

"We are excited to share the Museums' important collection of French-made hats and bonnets from this imaginative period in millinery history," says Laura L. Camerlengo, assistant curator of costume and textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums. "We trace the journey of these accessories from creation to wear, hoping to foster a fresh appreciation for the artistry of the milliners and their extraordinary creations, and to shed new light on their lives and the lives of their clients."